The Betty Jean Furgerson papers date from 1921 to 2010 and measure 6 linear feet. The papers are arranged in seven series: Personal life, Post-secondary education, Professional life, Iowa Public Television, State Board of Regents, Resource files, and Photographs.

The Personal life series (1940-2010 and undated) contains material that reflects Furgerson's interests in the arts and civic participation in her community. Included are correspondence that cover more than two decades of friendship between the Furgerson family and members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. This series includes an extensive personal correspondence series. Included are greeting cards, graduation invitation and letters from friends and family. The greeting card collection is composed of Christmas, birthday, and thank you cards. Some of the cards contain extensive writing, but the majority of them are composed of a closing signature. Included are also a number of letters and a grade book for Furgerson's mother. The folder dedicated to Furgerson's elementary education contains some of her early report cards. This series also contains newspaper clippings about family members, which describe their involvement in Waterloo organizations and their achievements.

Furgerson's educational background is documented in the Post-secondary education series (1942-1974 and undated). The folders in the series are arranged by school, with the University of Kansas folders arranged by the class number assigned by the university. The concert programs from Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa) reflect Furgerson's involvement in the Dimensions in Jazz concert series.

The Civic and professional activities series (1947-1999), contains material that documents Furgerson's occupations, and reflects her commitment to civic participation. Most of the information relates to committees and commissions concerned with education. She was appointed to many of these by the Iowa Governor or state legislature. Furgerson has also been a member of numerous boards in local organizations. A portion of the materials reflects her tenure as director of the Waterloo Human Rights Commission from 1974 to 1992.

Betty Jean Furgerson served as the president of the Iowa Public Television Broadcasting Board. The papers in the Iowa Public Television series (1976-2000) document this role. The series contains information on funding for public television and the construction and implementation of the first two phases of the Iowa Communications Network (ICN). It also includes minutes from the 461 Task Force (named after House File 461) that was formed to study the consequences of converting the ICN to a public utility.

The State Board of Regents series (1984-1997) documents part of Furgerson's six-year term as a regent from 1989 to 1995. Two subseries, Administrative records and Topical files, comprise this series. The Administrative records subseries contains meeting minutes which reflect the board's role as trustee of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Also included are the minutes of the banking committee and correspondence and material related to the search for two university presidents. The Topical files subseries contains papers on issues of particular interest to Furgerson. The primary topics of these materials are recruitment and retention of minority students and faculty and cultural diversity at the regents' institutions.

The Resource files series (1984-1997) contains documents that reflect Furgerson's interests in education and her involvement in civic activities. Included are national, state, and regional reports on the status of education. It also includes some material on Iowa economic trends.